Geomechanics and Geotechnics: From Micro to Macro Jiang et al.

. (eds) 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-61295-1

A new fracture and abrasion model of unbound granular materials using the discrete element method
Manuel Ocampo1*, Bernardo Caicedo2
1 2

Department of Civil Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogot D.C., Colombia Department of Civil Engineering, The Universidad de Los Andes, Bogot D.C., Colombia

Abstract: Unbound compacted granular materials are common in layered structures such as road pavements. Their performance depends on mechanical and hydraulic properties, and these depend upon grain size distribution which changes according to the amount of particle crushing, that occurs due to static or dynamic loads. Abrasion changes a particles shape, and fracturing divides the particle into a mixture of many small particles of varying sizes. In this paper a new abrasion and fracture model is proposed to help us understand and visualize the evolution of crushing caused by compression and shear in unbound granular materials. The model uses a numerical simulation with the discrete element method in two dimensions. New concepts are used in the particle failure model to simulate fracture and abrasion. Damage induced by stresses on a particle is used to calculate abrasion and to determine the time of fracture of a particle. Damage is calculated using Miners rule plus a combination of Griffiths fracture criterion and the fatigue law of material. Tensile strength in a particle is estimated as a function of material properties using an adaptation of Weibulls theory. Abrasion is calculated using a particle packing model developed by De Larrard. A cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution is used for determining the final grain distribution. This model is validated with the gyratory compaction test using three granular materials used in road pavements in and around the city of Bogot. Keywords: DEM, Miners rule, Griffiths fracture criterion, fatigue law, Weibull probability theory, packing density.

1 Introduction
Particle fracture plays a major role in the behavior of granular materials that are used in engineering structures such as paved roads, railroads, highway embankments, and foundations. The most important engineering properties of granular materials in these structures include stressstrain behaviors, strength behaviors, volume changes, pore-pressure developments and variations in permeability. All these properties depend on the amount of particle crushing that occurs due to static or dynamic loads (Lade et al. 1996). Particle breakage occurs as a result of these loads (Bolton 1999; Feda 2002; Hagerty et al. 1993; Hardin 1985; Lade et al. 1996; Lee and Farhoomand 1967). Grain crushing is influenced by grain angularity, grain size, uniformity of gradation, particle strength, porosity, stress level, and anisotropy (Bolton and McDowell 1997; Feda 2002; Hagerty et al. 1993; Hardin 1985; Lade et al. 1996; Lobo-Guerrero 2006; McDowell and Bolton 1998; Nakata et al. 1999; Nakata et al. 2001a; Nakata et al. 2001b; Yamamuro and Lade 1996). Under sustained crushing, the original engineering properties could contribute to structural instability, creating unsafe conditions (Vallejo 2003). Thus, there is a need to understand the evolution of crushing in granular materials.
* corresponding author, email: manuel.ocampo@javeriana.edu.co

2 A new fracture and abrasion model of unbound granular materials using the discrete element method

A new fracture and abrasion model is presented to aid in understanding and visualizing the evolution of crushing by relating the change in grain size curve to mechanical characteristics of particles and repeated loads applied to material. The model works using numerical simulation with the discrete element method in two dimensions. To validate simulations, compression tests were performed using the Gyratory Shear Compactor (GSC) on samples of three different granular materials. Experimental results were compared with simulation results. This numerical model was developed as part of the research done for the doctoral thesis of Manuel Ocampo in civil engineering at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogot, Colombia under the guidance of thesis adviser Dr. Bernardo Caicedo.

2 Particle Failure Model

The model was created in the PFC2D program that idealizes particles as discs. Because particles strengths in a granular material are random parameters (Ocampo 2009; Ocampo and Caicedo 2009), initial strengths obeying a probability distribution function were assigned to each disc. Other models use the Weibull distribution function to describe the behavior of brittle particles. However this function is not convenient for the purpose of this model because it is a function of the induced tensile stress. For this reason it was necessary to modify the Weibull function to create a function of the tensile strength 'adm as shown below:
D Ps (D ) = 1 exp Do
w

' adm ' o

(1)

Where Ps(D) is the probability of survival of a particle of size D with a tensile strength 'adm, and 'o is the characteristic crushing strength of a particle size Do, and m is the Weibull modulus. The tensile strength can be calculated from eq. 1 as shown in eq. 2. Characteristic strength in this equation was set as the strength of a particle with a size of one millimeter '1mm. Values for the Weibull moduli and the characteristic strengths for the three materials modeled were obtained experimentally (Ocampo 2009).
' adm = '1mm D w / m ln
1 1 Ps
1/ m

(2)

The material fatigue law (eq. 3) is used to determine the number of load cycles NEf that a particle needs to reach failure. The material fatigue parameter b was predefined as being equal to 1/12. Tensile strength 'adm,NE=1 is the failure strength after one load cycle. It was obtained experimentally by running unconfined compression tests on single particles.
' ' adm = adm , NE =1 (NE f )b

(3)

Finally, damage to a particle is calculated using Miners rule (eq. 4) plus a combination of Griffiths fracture criterion and the fatigue law of material. The damage induced by stresses on a particle is used to calculate abrasion and to determine the time of fracture of a particle.
=
i =1 k

1 NE f

(4)

After crushing the disc is divided into many discs and its mass remain constant.

Ocampo M, Caicedo B 3

2.1 Abrasion Model

This model determines the amount of the particles area which will suffer abrasion as a function of the increment of damage in each load cycle and De Larrards (2000) relative packing density i/i*. In this relation i is the actual solid volume of size i and i* is the maximum volume that all particles of size i may occupy, given the presence of the other particles. As shown in Fig. 1, the relative packing density is related to the stress level tolerated by each particle with size i. In other words, if this relation approaches zero, those particles will be loose within the granular material, but if this relation approaches one, all particles with size i will be in contact with, and under pressure from, the granular structure, and therefore will suffer abrasion. The abrasion area is calculated as follows:
Abrasion _ Area = Area Disc i * i

(5)

i i i i i i i i i i i i i

i/i*

Fig. 1 Segregation of particles of size i within the granular material (De Larrard 2000)

After abrasion, initial disc area is reduced and the abrasion area is divided into many small discs as shown in Fig. 2. The distribution of the new discs follows the cumulative distribution of the beta distribution with the parameters and determined experimentally.

(a) Fig. 2 Particle abrasion, (a) before abrasion and (b) after abrasion

(b)

4 A new fracture and abrasion model of unbound granular materials using the discrete element method

2.2 Fracture Model

Disc failure in the model occurs when damage is greater than, or equal to, one. After failure the disc is divided into many discs with a special size distribution as shown in Fig. 3. Ocampo and Caicedo (2009) found experimentally that the distribution of particles after crushing can be fitted to a cumulative distribution of the Beta distribution with lower and upper bounds of 0 and 1 respectively. Values for Beta distribution parameters and were determined experimentally and reported by the authors (2009).

(a) Fig. 3 Particle fracture, (a) before crushing and (b) after crushing

(b)

3 DEM analysis
The simulations were carried out using the PFC2D program, which is based on DEM (Discrete Element Method). A big limitation of this kind of computational numerical model is the quantity of discs that it can generate. This limitation is due to the capacity of the computer processor and the time needed for the simulation. For this reason, the grain size distribution for the sample in the numerical model was determined using only 8 sieves ranging from 3/4" sieve mesh (19.0 mm) to No. 16 sieve mesh (1.19 mm). However, in order to validate the numerical simulations of our abrasion and crushing model, we carried out a series of experiments using materials commonly used in road pavements in and around the city of Bogot. The grain size distribution for these samples includes many sizes ranging from 3/4" sieve mesh (19.0 mm) to No. 200 sieve mesh (0.074 mm). The experimental tests were carried out using the Gyratory Shear Compactor with granular materials extracted from three locations near Bogot: Soacha, Usaqun, and Mondoedo. The compaction stress was transmitted to the sample by upper and lower walls. The gyratory angle of the experimental test was simulated by rotation of the vertical walls as shown in Fig. 4. The experimental tests and numerical simulations were carried out with a compression stress of 500 kPa and gyratory angle of one degree. Grain size distributions were determined after 10, 100 and 1000 loading cycles.

Ocampo M, Caicedo B 5

(a)

(b)

Fig. 4 Simulation of the gyratory compaction test (a) walls inclined to the left (b) walls inclined to the right

4 Results and discussion

Fig. 5-6 shows the grain size distribution for the experimental and numerical tests. Each point in the figures corresponds to a particle size at the end of a loading cycle.
20% 18% 18%
1 loading cycles 0 1 loading cycles 00 1 loading cycles 000

20%

1 loading cycles 0 1 loading cycles 00 1 loading cycles 000

16%

% Material retained (Numerical Test) 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%

4%

2%

Error = 0.57%

2%

4%

% Material retained (Numerical Test) 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%

16%

Error = 0.54%

0%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

0% 0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

% Material retained (Experim ental Test)

% Material retained (Experim ental Test)

(a)

(b)

Fig. 5 Grain size distribution for material from (a) Mondoedo and (b) Soacha

6 A new fracture and abrasion model of unbound granular materials using the discrete element method

20%

18%

1 loading cycles 0 1 loading cycles 00 1 loading cycles 000

2%

4%

% Material retained (Numerial test) 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%

16%

Error = 0.74%

0% 0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

% Material retained (Experim ental test)

Fig. 6 Grain size distribution for material from Usaqun

The figures reveal good agreement between experimental and numerical data for almost all fragment sizes. There are small discrepancies which may be consequences of the simulation limitations mentioned above.

4 CONCLUSIONS
In most engineering projects, geotechnical structures are designed to comply with a given resistance which is highly correlated to the grain size distribution of the material, its packing density and its modulus. However, the compaction process during construction may alter these properties. Sometimes these alterations are small, and sometimes they are dramatic. Furthermore, once the road bed is in use, these properties change continuously as the grain size distribution of the material evolves due to crushing and abrasion. This is especially true for pavements which are subjected to cyclic loading. Consequently, degradation design assumptions become invalid. This is the cause of many "unexpected" failures. This paper presents a model of the process of changes of material properties as fracturing and abrasion occur. The model has shown that it can accurately predict the deterioration process of unbound granular materials subject to cyclic loading. In addition, a reliability model has been presented as a first passage probability problem to estimate the expected life of granular structures. Results are promising and should be part of further investigation as they have important implications for structural behaviour and maintenance programs.

Acknowledgements
The authors want to particularly acknowledge the Geotechnical Group of the University of Pittsburgh where much of this research was done. We especially want to thank Doctor Vallejo for his assistance in the development of this project.

Ocampo M, Caicedo B 7

References
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